Climate Science Glossary

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All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

I think he found a great way to answer the last argument. A personal way - this is an open question, one can disagree with him - but it's breaking the "you are haters wanting us to go back to the Dark Ages" meme in a not so common way. Fossil fuels indeed had advantages - it was a "cheap" way to extract and transport energy back in the XIX and XX century - the problem is that their drawbacks are now huge, it is not as cheap and it will become more expensive as we scrap the bottom of the barrel (peak oil).

And, for once, we have a Gish Gallop of correct answers - I would like "skeptics" to answer everything :]

Let us hope that the oil majors do decide to raise the price of oil as extraction costs increase. Gail Tverberg, a highly regarded actuary, in her blog, Our Finite World, possits that notion that they might instead simply cease production when the extraction cost rise too high, see: http://ourfiniteworld.com/.

If she is correct, and her view is supported by the fact that Shell is walking away from shale gas fracking, then Climate Change will be the least of our worries. Indeed such a move could achieve the reduction in CO2 production that we are all seeking, and then some. There would, of course, be an increase in methane production, but that is perhaps a point best left to the imagination.

An even better response about the buring of fossil fuels would be, in addition to the damage done obtaining, transporting and burning them, they are simply non-renewable. Once they are used up they are used up. There will be no more produced for many millions of years. And Humanity should be looking forward to enjoying life on this amazing planet for a few 'billion years'. And the only way of living that can be sustained for that length of time is for humanity to be a vibrant leader of a fluorishing diverstity of life on this planet. All the attempts to artificially and unsustainably get benefit are "counter-productive". And since humanity will be striving to enjoy life for such a long time, there may actually be times in the future when readily available energy from fossil fuels would help with an actual 'short-term emergency need'.

It is a shame that the current socioeconomic system has become so popular, but understandable. Once humans get a taste of benefits many of them develop an addiction to getting that benefit even if it is proven to be damaging or unsustainable. Those people who have become additcted and will fight the 'change of attutude' need to be stopped from succeeding at the things they will try to get away with. That is a significant challenge to solve, but there is no future for humanity if it is not solved.

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